Buenos Aires - Nightlife

Party until dawn and beyond in Palermo's funky dance clubs, or be taken back in time at a sweaty but civilised backstreet milonga (tango dance).

Young, affluent porteños ('people of the port') flock to leafy Palermo Viejo, where every corner has an animated bar or club playing the latest tunes.

For the glamorous ranging to the seedy, set a course for the diverse downtown area. Sophisticated cocktail joints, heaving Irish bars, quiet pubs and laid-back jazz venues are all found in the clutch of narrow streets known as the Microcentro.

Tango is undergoing a revival in the city. It's not unusual to find a mixed crowd of classy young porteños (port-dwellers), elegant elderly gentleman and curious tourists listening enthralled to the melancholy song of tango singers. Tango bars are found throughout the city, but San Telmo is their heartland.

The area just north of the centre but south of Recoleta, Barrio Norte, is home to some of Buenos Aires' slightly edgier, alternative venues. Investigate the smoky jazz clubs and the converted townhouses turned into labyrinth cocktail bars.

Buenos Aires is a very late-night city. Bars are generally empty until at least midnight and clubs don't tend to fill until 3am. Sunday morning 'after parties' are easy to find, especially in the sultry days of summer.

Wander San Telmo to the warbling of the father of tango, Carlos Gardel's Mi Buenos Aires Querido. Shop for funky Palermo designs while listening to Argentine rock legends Sumo's Mañana en el Abasto. And try on ponchos in Mataderos to the folkloric music chamamé of Chango Spasiuk's Mi Pueblo, Mi Casa, La Soledad.